Haiti Earthquake: January 12, 2010

Just-in-Time Lecture
Haiti Earthquake
January 12, 2010

Haiti's presidential palace before (top) and after
the earthquake Photo: AFP/GETTY
Satellite Photos of Haiti Before
and After the Earthquake
What is the Earthquake?
The shaking of earth caused by waves

moving on and below the earth's surface and
causing: surface faulting, tremors vibration,
liquefaction, landslides, aftershocks and/or
tsunamis.
How Earthquake Happens?
 It caused by a sudden slip on a FAULT.
 Stresses in the earth's

outer layer push sides of
fault together.
 Stress builds up & rocks

slips suddenly, releasing
energy in waves that travel
through the earth's CRUST
& cause the shaking that we
Feel during an earthquake.
Earthquake Strength Measures
I) Magnitude & II) Intensity
I) Magnitude:
 Definition: A measure of actual physical energy
release at its source as estimated from
instrumental observations.
 Scale: Richter Scale

 By Charles Richter, 1936
 Open-ended scale
 The oldest & most widely used
Noji 1997
Earthquake Strength Measures
I) Magnitude & II) Intensity
II) Intensity:
 Definition: a measure of the felt or perceived effects
of an earthquake rather than the strength of the
earthquake itself.
 Scale: Modified Mercalli (MM) scale
 12-point scale, ranges from barely

perceptible earthquakes at MM I to
near total destruction at MM XII
Magnitude versus Intensity
 Magnitude refers to the force of the earthquake as

a whole, while intensity refers to the effects of an
earthquake at a particular site.
 An earthquake can have just one magnitude, while

intensity is usually strongest close to the epicenter
& is weaker the farther a site is from the epicenter.
 The intensity of an earthquake is more germane to

its public health consequences than its magnitude.
Public Health Consequences
of Earthquakes
Please see the following addresses for

above title:
Part I.
http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec13021/index.htm
Part II.
http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec13051/index.htm
Earthquake in Haiti
• Haiti latest and breaking national news

and regional news from Haiti
• Haiti Earthquake updates
• Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti daily
notes
• Google Crisis response
Previous earthquakes on the island
• 1751
• 1770
• 1842
• 1946
Earthquake Details
Magnitude 7.0
Date-Time •Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 04:53:10 PM at epicenter
Location 18.457°N, 72.533°W

Depth 13 km (8.1 miles) set by location program
Region HAITI REGION
25 km (15 miles) WSW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
130 km (80 miles) E of Les Cayes, Haiti
Distances 150 km (95 miles) S of Cap-Haitien, Haiti
1125 km (700 miles) SE of Miami, Florida
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 3.4 km (2.1 miles); depth fixed by location program
Poverty: Major obstacle to effective

disaster mitigation activities
• Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the
Americas
• GDP per capita of 790 USD, about $2 per
person per day (before the earthquake of
2010)
• Ranks 149th of 182 countries in the United
Nations Human Development Index (2006)
Public Health Challenges

• Large proportion of children unvaccinated
• Before the earthquake, only about 40% of
the population had access to basic
healthcare
• High prevalence of waterborne diseases
and intestinal parasites (especially in
children)
• High rates of TB, HIV/AIDs, and malaria
• Poor public health infrastructure
Public Health Dangers of Haiti
Earthquake
• Potential breakdowns in sanitation
• Difficult access to clean water
• Problems with housing and subsequent
crowding
• Dangers of tropical diseases outbreak
• Fragility of existing public health system
• Malnutrition
UN: Haiti quake shows need to close
technology gap
30 years continuous evolution in the
practice of Crisis or Disaster Management
 Civil defense
Strategic shift
 Emergency assistance
from managing
 Disaster response and relief a disastrous
 Humanitarian assistance event to more
 Emergency management preventive and
 Civil protection proactive
 Disaster mitigation and approaches!!
prevention
 Disaster Risk
Management
What is Disaster risk reduction
(disaster reduction or DRR)?
• The conceptual framework of elements

considered with the possibilities to minimize
vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a
society, to avoid (prevention) or to limit
(mitigation and preparedness) the adverse
impacts of hazards, within the broad context of
sustainable development !
What is the Hazard?
• A potentially damaging physical event,

phenomenon or human activity that may
cause the loss of life or injury, property
damage, social and economic disruption or
Naturalenvironmental degradation.
Geological Earthquake
Hydro meteorological Flood, Hurricane
Biological Pandemic
Hyman Induced Environmental degradation Deforestation
Technological Nuclear release

What is the Vulnerability?
• The conditions determined by physical, social,

economic, and environmental factors or
processes, which increase the susceptibility of a
community to the impact of hazards.
• Vulnerable Haiti:
o Unprepared people
o Non-resistant house & school building
o High-density population
o etc.
What is Risk?
• The probability of harmful consequences, or

expected losses (deaths, injuries, property,
livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or
environment damaged) resulting from
interactions between natural or human-induced
hazards & vulnerable conditions.
• Risk = Hazards x Vulnerability

What is a Disaster ?
• A serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society causing widespread
human, material, economic or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected
community or society to cope using its own
resources.
What is a Disaster?
• A disaster is a function of the risk process.
• It results from the combination of hazards,

conditions of vulnerability and insufficient
capacity or measures to reduce the potential
negative consequences of risk.
Just-in-Time Education
Let’s teach the communities right now !
Risk awareness & Knowledge development

including education, training, research and
information are of the important fields of
action for Disaster Risk Reduction!
Information ….
 People need information as much as
water, food, medicine or shelter.
 Information can save lives, livelihoods &

resources.
 Lack of information can make

people victims of disaster.
World Disaster Report 2005 – IFRC/RCS

What we should do/do not before,
during & after the earthquake?
Please read carefully at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/faq/prepare.html
List of Supercourse lectures on
Earthquakes
• Tectonic explanation of the May 12, 2008, Sichuan
Earthquake in Chinese China Earthquake: 12 May
2008. Short version in Chinese in Spanish
• China Earthquake: 12 May 2008. Long version
• Pakistani Earthquake. 8 October 2005 (Spanish
version)
• Earthquakes 2000 to 2005 From Indonesia to Pakistan
• A Case Study for the Setting of Water Supply &
Sanitation Priorities in the PAK Emergency
• Earthquake & Tsunami South Asia, 26 Dec 2004
• Earthquake Mitigation (in Spanish)
List of other useful Lectures on
Disasters at Supercourse
• Dead Bodies and Disasters: Principles of Mortuary
Services (in Spanish)
• Public Health Disaster Consequences of Disasters (In
Spanish) (In Russian) (In Arabic) (In Portuguese) (in
Japan)
• Safety matters: How to Safely Evacuate from your Home
• Data for Decision making in disasters: advances and
controversies
A Tectonic explanation of the
May 12, 2008, Sichuan Earthquake
Professor Emeritus Tanya M. Atwater

Member, U. S. National Academy of Sciences
Dept. Earth Science, 1006 Webb Hall
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9630
atwater@geol.ucsb.edu

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Just-in-Time Lecture

January 12, 2010

The shaking of earth caused by waves

 Stresses in the earth's

 Stress builds up & rocks

I) Magnitude & II) Intensity

 Scale: Richter Scale

I) Magnitude & II) Intensity

 Scale: Modified Mercalli (MM) scale

 12-point scale, ranges from barely

 Magnitude refers to the force of the earthquake as

 An earthquake can have just one magnitude, while

 The intensity of an earthquake is more germane to

Please see the following addresses for

• Haiti latest and breaking national news

Previous earthquakes on the island

Date-Time •Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 04:53:10 PM at epicenter

Location 18.457°N, 72.533°W

Poverty: Major obstacle to effective

Public Health Challenges

• The conceptual framework of elements

• A potentially damaging physical event,

Hyman Induced Environmental degradation Deforestation

Technological Nuclear release

• The conditions determined by physical, social,

• The probability of harmful consequences, or

• Risk = Hazards x Vulnerability

• A serious disruption of the functioning of a

community or a society causing widespread

human, material, economic or environmental

losses which exceed the ability of the affected

community or society to cope using its own

• A disaster is a function of the risk process.

• It results from the combination of hazards,

Let’s teach the communities right now !

Risk awareness & Knowledge development

 Information can save lives, livelihoods &

 Lack of information can make

World Disaster Report 2005 – IFRC/RCS

during & after the earthquake?

Please read carefully at:

Professor Emeritus Tanya M. Atwater

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